R.I. May Move To Link School Funding, Accountability

Rhode Island lawmakers are considering
a plan to direct more state aid to urban districts in expectation of
improved student performance and a clear accounting of how the state's
schools spend their money.

The proposal follows four months of hearings by a bicameral
legislative panel charged with drafting a plan to hold schools more
accountable and to revise a state funding formula with a basic
structure dating back to the 1960s.

Under the measure, all 36 districts in the state would see some
funding increases from their allocations this year, but most of the new
money would go to a handful of urban districts.

Lawmakers must now await the release of an upcoming estimate of
state revenues before holding hearings on the proposal, which they
unveiled last month. The plan then could be taken up by the House
Finance Committee.

The plan seeks to narrow persistent gaps in both the resources
available to rich and poor districts, and their students'
performance--a common theme nationwide as many states look to link
funding and educational equity.

"It's basically an effort to use new dollars to tie education reform
and education finance together," said Gary Sasse, who co-chairs the
state's Goals 2000 panel.

A Focus on Needs

If the plan is approved, Rhode Island schools next year would
receive $25 million more than the state's current spending of $411
million. Districts would then have to draft strategies for improving
their students' scores on statewide 4th grade assessments. Those that
did not show at least a 5 percent increase in the number of students
scoring at proficient levels could face state intervention.

"We spend a lot of money in Rhode Island to make things work, and we
have a lot of feedback that says it's not working," said Sen. J.
Michael Lenihan, who co-chaired the panel that drafted the plan known
as the Rhode Island Student Investment Initiative. Results from
national assessments generally show the average performance of Rhode
Island's students lagging behind their peers' in the rest of New
England.

Traditionally, Rhode Island has doled out aid to districts based on
what school systems spent in previous years, but the new initiative
would base state aid more on districts' needs. ("R.I. Officials Seek To Tie State Aid to
Needs," June 12, 1996.)

Under the plan, districts would receive additional funds based on
the number of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, with
limited English proficiency, or in grades K-3.

Plan supporters stress that with the increase in aid would come
heightened scrutiny.

The measure would require all of the state's districts to complete
new standardized reports detailing how they spend their money.

By comparing test-score results from similar schools, the lawmakers
hope to find which districts are getting the best education outcomes
from their investment. "If one school in a particular area is doing
well and another isn't, we can ask why," Mr. Lenihan said.

Little Tax Relief

Rhode Island's school funding practices have been under fire since
1991, when three of the state's poorest districts challenged them in a
lawsuit.

The plaintiffs argued that the state's overreliance on local
property taxes created substantial differences in the amount of
resources available to wealthy and poor districts. Providence, for
example, annually spends $3,018 per pupil on instruction compared with
wealthier communities such as East Greenwich, which spends $4,184,
according to the state.

In 1994, lawmakers proposed a $265 million plan to close those gaps
and even out the local tax burden on communities. But the legislature
failed to approve the measure, and, in 1995, the state's highest court
dismissed the funding suit. ("R.I.
School-Finance Formula Is Upheld," Aug. 2, 1995.)

Supporters of the $25 million proposal now before the legislature
concede that it won't be enough to allow urban areas to lower their
local tax burden. It would, however, provide additional aid to
districts with high local tax rates where school spending still falls
below the state median.

"We had to make a serious effort to find out how our funds are being
spent before we made any kind of huge investment," said Rep. Paul W.
Crowley, the Democrat who co-chaired the panel that drafted the
proposal. The plan would direct more aid to districts than a proposal
made in February by Republican Gov. Lincoln C. Almond to increase state
aid to districts by $12.5 million.

By
Jeff Archer

Web Only

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